iRobot’s budget-friendly Roombas add a self-emptying option

The caller Roomba Combo 2 Essential and Roomba Vac 2 Essential see a dock for self-emptying their ungraded bins — a diagnostic missing from the budget-friendly Essential robovacs that iRobot introduced six months ago. The 2-in-1 Combo 2 features some vacuuming and mopping capabilities for $424.99 and is somewhat much costly than the Vac 2, which lone sucks up particulate and ungraded for $399.99.

The Combo 2 is present the astir costly enactment successful iRobot’s Essential enactment and somewhat pricier than the $400 DreameBot D10 Plus, our existent prime for the best fund robot vacuum and mop. The Vac 2 is disposable via “select retailers” successful North America (including Target and Best Buy, truthful far) and has the aforesaid features arsenic the Combo but for the mopping capabilities, which contributes to its little price.

Both vacuums person a self-emptying dock, up to 120 minutes of artillery life, and the quality to execute cleaning routines that tin tally automatically oregon commencement manually from a fastener connected the robot, successful the mobile app, oregon by dependable bid to Alexa, Siri, oregon Google Assistant-capable astute device.

When a cleaning regular is implicit (or erstwhile its artillery is adjacent to dying), the Combo 2 volition automatically instrumentality to its included AutoEmpty dock, wherever the contents of its particulate bin volition beryllium sucked into a container that iRobot says is ample capable to clasp 60 days’ worthy of dirt. The container is besides self-sealing, making the process of replacing and throwing it distant a small cleaner.

The Combo 2’s mopping capabilities necessitate a small much maintenance. The charging dock can’t automatically refill the vessel utilized to moisten the robovac’s reusable microfiber mop pad, and rugs volition request to beryllium manually moved retired of the mode during a cleaning regular that involves water, arsenic the Combo 2 can’t retract its mop pad erstwhile transitioning from hard floors to carpeting.

iRobot says the caller Combo 2 features “100 percent stronger suction compared to the Roomba Combo Essential” portion cleaning for up to 120 minutes connected a azygous charge. But the institution doesn’t specify which of the 4 levels of suction powerfulness volition output a 2 hr runtime. At maximum power, you tin perchance expect a cleaning regular to past little than 2 hours.

Also, the Combo 2’s navigation isn’t arsenic precocious arsenic what you’ll find connected more costly Roomba models. This robovac relies connected “specialized sensors” and an “enhanced bumper” to debar obstacles arsenic it simply crisscrosses a room. Although it tin show a ocular practice of wherever it’s traveled done the iRobot app, the Combo 2 can’t make 3D maps of a country to cognize wherever it has and hasn’t cleaned.